Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 800 A petty official caught in the middle
As dusk settled, the thick clouds in the sky turned a deep orange, and the sea breeze, carrying a damp smell, blew into the alleyway, making the smoke from the chimneys on the rooftops sway crookedly.

Thump, thump!

Two heavy thuds suddenly came from outside the courtyard gate, startling the horse tied to the wall, which raised its head. Someone was kicking the gate, and with considerable force, the door panel shook.

Inside the main room, Ren Gui'an was playing with Kong Lao Jiu's youngest son when he heard the door being kicked open. He immediately put the child in the cradle and came out of the main room.

Kong's wife also heard the noise and had just come out of the kitchen when Ren Gui'an raised his hand to stop her: "I'll go open it."

Kong's wife quickly guessed what he meant and covered her mouth, giggling. She laughed so happily that the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes appeared.

Ren Guian walked to the door, deliberately lifting the latch slowly, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Which son of a bitch is kicking the door so hard? Is he trying to tear my door down?!"

Hearing the voice from outside the door, Kong Chengdong's eyes widened in confusion. The voice sounded so familiar, but how could another man be speaking so confidently inside his own house? He instinctively took two steps back, glanced at the courtyard wall, then scratched the back of his head, wondering if he had been too tired from training and had wandered off into the wrong alley. Just as Kong Chengdong was about to turn around and look elsewhere, the door in front of him creaked open first.

Kong Chengdong saw Ren Guian's familiar face, but his mind didn't immediately register it. So he subconsciously cupped his hands in apology and said, "Oh! Fourth Brother Ren! I'm so sorry, so sorry. My mind is all muddled. I just came here on a whim and made myself at home!"

Ren Gui put on a fake stern face and waved his hand: "I just bought some wine and meat, and you come kicking down the door. What? Did you come by the smell? Get lost! There's nothing else, go back to your own home and eat."

Kong Chengdong nodded repeatedly, bowing and backing away, "Hey, hey, I'm leaving, I'm leaving." As he backed away, he muttered to himself, "Why be so stingy? Who cares about you?" Kong Chengdong suddenly stopped, his eyes widening. He quickly turned around and looked at Ren Gui'an with a surprised expression, "This isn't right! Fourth Brother Ren! What are you doing here?"

Ren Gui'an's lips curled up, and he was about to lose his composure: "Hey, you brat, why can't I stay here? Get lost!"

"Hiss, this..." Kong Chengdong looked around at the familiar low houses in the alley, then glanced at the foxtail grass under the courtyard wall, and suddenly realized what was going on. He slapped his thigh and laughed happily: "Hey! Fourth Brother Ren! You're... joking with me!"

"Hahahaha!" Ren Gui'an finally couldn't hold back anymore and laughed. "You little rascal, don't you even recognize your own house?"

"Hehe." Kong Chengdong scratched the back of his head awkwardly: "I'm not...hey! Fourth Brother, what brings you here?"

"Why am I here? Can't I come?" Ren Gui'an raised his hand and patted Kong Chengdong's chest, then stepped aside. "What are you standing there for? Come in."

Kong Chengdong strode in and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Honey! Honey! Where have you been?"

"Hey, hey, hey," Kong's wife poked her head out of the kitchen, still holding a spatula in her hand, "I'm here, I'm here! Stop shouting!"

Kong Chengdong looked at her, then glanced at Ren Gui'an and complained, "You didn't even greet Fourth Brother when he came. You had to make him come and open the door for me. Don't you know anything about manners?"

Kong's wife was utterly dumbfounded: "I...you!"

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean, 'what do you mean'?" Kong Cheng glared at her. "Stop talking nonsense, go outside and buy a few pounds of wine, and a few pounds of braised meat. Also, some peanuts and edamame to go with the wine! Hurry up!"

Ren Guian quickly pressed down on his shoulder: "What are you buying? Stop messing around. I brought wine and meat, and your wife has already started cooking them on the stove."

"Hey! Fourth Brother Ren, what's wrong with you?" Kong Cheng pretended to be serious and put on a stern face. "Who brings their own gifts when they come to visit?"

“It would be impolite of me to come empty-handed,” Ren Gui’an said with a smile. “Besides, I’m not here as a guest. I have something to ask you.”

"Look at what you're saying! Even if you have something incredibly important to ask me, you're still a guest!" Kong Chengdong stiffened his neck, turned around and shouted towards the kitchen, "Hey, wife of the child! Where are you going? Didn't you hear me? Hurry up and go out and buy some snacks to go with the wine! Just wine and meat aren't enough!"

"What are you yelling about!" Kong's wife said, frowning. "I have meat cooking on the stove, and I just added some firewood. I have to go and keep an eye on it."

"Hey, where's San'er?" Kong Chengdong looked around. "That brat, where the hell has he gone? Tell him to come and watch the stove! You hurry up and go buy some things!"

"Do you need to take care of things?" Kong's wife rolled her eyes. "I sent San'er out to buy things a long time ago."

"Why didn't you say so earlier!" Kong Chengdong was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand, "Get out of here, go back to the kitchen and watch your meat, or I'll beat you up if you keep dawdling."

Kong's wife scoffed and muttered under her breath, "Afraid of you, huh?"

Hearing this, Kong Chengdong felt incredibly embarrassed, so he shouted at his wife's retreating back, "Say that again!"

Kong's wife ignored him and only left Kong Chengdong with her back turned.

Kong Chengdong watched the woman's disappearing figure, then turned to Ren Guian with an awkward smile, "Hehe, Fourth Brother, you flatter me. That stupid woman just needs to be taught a lesson. If you give her a little kindness, she'll take advantage of it and become like this."

Ren Guian chuckled twice, but didn't respond to his comment. Instead, he said, "How have you been lately? I heard that your coastal defense battalion has undergone some restructuring and layoffs, but those who were able to stay all got promoted. You must have benefited quite a bit, right?"

"Sigh! He's been promoted, but he hasn't gotten any real benefits." Kong Chengdong turned to the side and gestured for Ren Gui'an to enter the main room. "I used to be a squad leader, and now I've been promoted to team leader. I have more people under my command, but my rank hasn't changed at all. It's just a lot of extra work."

Ren Guian followed Kong Chengdong into the house and then took Kong Chengdong's youngest son out of the bamboo cradle: "Now that you've been promoted, your salary should have increased, right?"

"It has gone up." Kong Chengdong chuckled, holding up his hand and making a "three" gesture. "But it's only an extra three taels a year, which is gone after buying a few clothes for the kids."

"Your salary went up and you're still complaining? You're getting a good deal and you're still acting innocent, aren't you?" Ren Gui'an pouted and shook his head, making the child giggle. "Hmph. You even bought clothes for the child. Don't think I can't tell that what this child is wearing is the same clothes your third son wore when he was little."

"Oh dear. Of course, we'll make the new clothes for the New Year. Besides, although the salary has increased, I'm also more tired. I've been promoted from squad leader to team commander, and I have several times more people under me, which means several times more worries. And lately, there's training every few days, and if I do anything slightly wrong, the higher-ups will make trouble for me." Kong Chengdong sighed softly, a hint of envy in his eyes: "Fourth Brother, your life is so much more comfortable. You work in the patrol office, which is under Baodi County, but it's dozens of miles away from the county government. Nobody bothers you on weekdays. When you walk into the countryside, everyone comes to flatter you and calls you 'Master Ren.' Unlike me, I'm watched and tormented by the higher-ups every day, and I'm exhausted like a dog."

“I’m just a deputy inspector, what kind of big shot am I? I’m just a busybody.” Ren Gui’an put the child back in the cradle. Just as the child was about to babble, he grabbed a cloth tiger from the side and stuffed it into the child’s hand. “Inspector He is the real local tyrant. If I were really some ‘Master Ren,’ I would be the one ordering others to come and do this errand right now.”

"Running away?" Kong Chengdong was taken aback.

“Yes.” Ren Gui’an shrugged. “Otherwise, why would I come here for no reason? It’s neither a holiday nor a festival right now.”

"What kind of work could your patrol and inspection division possibly have in Beitang?" Kong Chengdong asked doubtfully. "Besides, I haven't heard of any problems on our side that require Baodi's assistance."

The patrol inspectorate was an agency under the county government, possessing both military and administrative functions. It was first established during the Five Dynasties period, with similar structures in the Jin and Western Xia dynasties. The patrol inspectorates of the Ming dynasty can be traced back to before the founding of the Hongwu reign. According to Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, its main responsibility was: "I establish patrol inspectors at passes and ferries to control key routes, investigate treachery and fraud, so that the people may live in peace and prosperity, and merchants may travel without hardship."

To put it more bluntly, the main responsibilities of the patrol and inspection department are to check passersby, investigate people without a waybill, arrest spies, apprehend thieves, maintain public order, intercept escaped soldiers and prisoners, combat smuggling, and safeguard normal business and travel exchanges.

In other words, patrol offices were usually set up in key passes and ports, as well as in places where merchants gathered, ethnic groups intermingled, border areas between prefectures and counties, places far from the capital, and places where migrants gathered, places where security problems were likely to occur.

Military garrisons rarely experience public security issues, and even if they do, the military can suppress them on its own without the need for the patrol and inspection department to intervene.

“It’s not that our patrol and inspection division has any business here, but I’ve caught someone… uh… no,” Ren Gui’an scratched his chin, “…actually, it can’t be called catching, more like escorting? Hmm…that doesn’t seem quite right either. Never mind.” Ren Gui’an waved his hand, “Anyway, there’s this person who’s coming here to do some business, and I need to find out his identity.”

"Who is it? Someone worth making this special trip for?" Kong Chengdong guessed. "A deserter from the coastal defense battalion?"

“He wasn’t a deserter. He was a foreigner.” Ren Gui’an shook his head and explained, “A foreigner who came by ship from the Western Ocean, thousands of miles away.”

"Oh! I see." Kong Chengdong suddenly realized, pointing with one finger: "Westerners have illegally crossed the border and secretly gone to your area?"

“He didn’t cross the border illegally,” Ren Gui’an continued, shaking his head. “He came from Beijing. At least that’s what he said himself.”

"From Beijing?" Kong Chengdong blinked.

"Yes." Ren Guian nodded.

"Does he have a travel permit?" Kong Chengdong asked.

“Yes,” Ren Guian affirmed. “He and the bodyguards who escorted him both carried travel permits.”

“Then there’s no problem,” Kong Chengdong said matter-of-factly. “If you have a travel permit, just let them through.”

“If it were anyone else, I would have let them pass after checking their travel permit.” Ren Gui’an frowned slightly, expressing his concerns. “But he is not only a foreigner, but also a foreign monk.”

"What happened to the Tibetan monk?" Kong Chengdong didn't quite understand at first.

“You should know that last year there was a case in Liaodong where a Tibetan monk spread heretical rumors and incited unrest among the troops,” Ren Gui’an said as he sat down. “The main culprit was executed not long ago, and now a Tibetan monk is crossing the border with a travel permit issued by a ‘Yelusi’ that I’ve never heard of before. Of course I have to be on guard.”

“'Yelusi'?” Kong Chengdong sat down as well.

“Look,” Ren Gui’an pointed, “you’ve never heard of it either!”

Kong Chengdong nodded thoughtfully. "Oh. I understand. Fourth Brother is afraid he's a fugitive from this case?"

“That’s right. That’s exactly what I’m afraid of!” Ren Gui’an slammed his hand on the table in front of him. “What if he really is a fugitive wanted by the imperial court, and he manages to slip away right under our noses in Baodi? If the imperial court investigates, not only will I, as the deputy inspector, be unable to cover it up, but even Magistrate Zhou might be dismissed!”

"Why don't you just detain them and question them?" Kong Chengdong suggested. "Since they were able to get here, they must have crossed the county seat. If the county knows about them, then there's no problem. Any problems will be the county's problem, and Magistrate Zhou's dismissal won't implicate you. Conversely, if the county doesn't know about them, then they must be fugitives who secretly crossed the border!"

"Bullshit!" Ren Gui'an said, somewhat annoyed. "It takes at least four days to travel from our place to the county town and back. If the travel permit he has is genuine, then forcibly detaining him and making him turn back is just asking for trouble. It will offend people."

"Tch. He's just a barbarian, what's the big deal if we offend him?" Kong Chengdong teased with a smile. "Fourth Brother, you weren't like this before. Why have you become so timid and hesitant after being in the Patrol Division for so long?"

"Fuck! What the hell is this about being timid and hesitant?" Ren Guian glared at Kong Chengdong. "That person's identity is a bit special. If I offend him, I might be in big trouble in the future."

"Special?" Kong Chengdong remained unconvinced. "How special can a barbarian be?"

“That man said he had met the Emperor and even received a reward from him. Don’t you think he’s special?” Ren Gui’an asked.

"You met the Emperor? And even received a reward!" Kong Chengdong exclaimed in awe. "Is this true?"

"If I knew whether it was true or not, why the hell would I have come to your door to ask you?" Kong Chengdong rolled his eyes at him. "He said he received twenty taels of silver as a reward, as well as a set of silk fabrics. I've seen all of these things; they are indeed good items, but I can't see anything special about them."

"Wow." Kong Chengdong shifted his position, sitting up a bit straighter. "Who are these people? They have such a big reputation?"

“He said he was good at arithmetic and astronomy,” Ren Gui’an said. “On the way here, I tried to test him. Although I couldn’t understand what he was saying at all, he did seem to be the one who was talking.”

(End of this chapter)